Berhanu Gemechu
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, Facebook

The mother of 24-year-old Ethiopian air hostess Ayantu Girmaye says she has achieved closure following Sunday's burial of her daughter in an empty casket - a week after she was among the 157 people killed when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed on farmland near the town of Bishoftu.

In an interview with BBC Afaan Oromoo, Kibebewa Legesse said her daughter usually kissed her when she left home to fly, but did not do so on the day she died because she was running late.

Ms Kibebewa said she had twice visited the site of the crash, and had come to terms with the fact that no part of her daughter's body would be recovered.

Along with that of other Ethiopian nationals and Ethiopian Airline staff killed in the crash, Ayantu's casket is being kept in a wall vault at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the capital, Addis Ababa.

"I do not want to separate her from the other deceased. I want everything to happen together," Ms Kibebewa said.

If you know Afaan Oromoo, you can read more about the interview with Ms Kibebewa here.

Peter Mwai
BBC Africa, Nairobi

A former drug addict in Kenya, who was rescued from the street by a classmate - and whose treatment and recovery was widely shared on social media - has died.

Wanja Mwaura announced the death of her friend Patrick Hinga Wanjiru on Facebook.

Image source, Wanja Mwaura

Image source, Wanja Mwaura

The story of Ms Mwaura and Mr Wanjiru, and her efforts to rehabilitate him, was covered by the BBC in 2017.

She was on her way to the market in Lower Kabete area near the capital, Nairobi, when she heard someone shout out her name. She did not recognise him until he introduced himself.

They had met in primary school back in 1992. He was estranged from his parents and later dropped out of school and started abusing drugs, first marijuana and then heroin. They had not met for more than 15 years.

Their chance meeting in 2017 was the beginning of a journey towards rehabilitating him, with Ms Wanja taking to social media to appeal for help and later celebrate his transformation.

Now, Kenyans have joined her in mourning.

Iman Irene Muthoni wrote on Facebook: "So sorry. You tried to help him. May his soul rest in peace."

Nksj Jagne said: "May he rest in eternal peace. You have done a wonderful job supporting and helping him thank you for that and may God reward you."

On Twitter, Hakuna Matata wrote, external: "One of the most encouraging stories in Kenya about overcoming depression and drug addiction has come to a sad end."

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

The World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended the distribution of a fortified food cereal in Uganda after one person died and nearly 200 were hospitalised in northern Uganda.

"Super Cereal" is meant for pregnant or breastfeeding women and children under the age of five.

It is supplied to both Ugandan and refugee communities.

Since Friday, dozens of people have been hospitalised in the Karamoja region of north-eastern Uganda after complaining of stomach aches, fever and showing signs of confusion.

Local officials say a 67-year-old woman died before making it to hospital.

According to the WFP, the patients were from families that had received a batch of fortified blended food last week.

The government and the UN agency are still investigating whether the outbreak of illness is linked to the cereal.

Distribution of the food has been suspended across the country.

Efforts are also underway to retrieve bags already delivered. It is not yet clear how many people are affected.

Uganda hosts over one million refugees, mostly women and children from South Sudan.

So far, all the reported cases are in the Karamoja region where previous conflicts, drought and extreme poverty have left some communities reliant on food aid.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Image source, AFP

Hundreds of Zambians have so far applied to be employed as maids and drivers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, reports the state owned Zambia Daily Mail.

Last month, UAE and Kuwait requested the southern African nation to provide 1,000 citizens to work as drivers and maids in the two countries.

Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe told Zambia Daily Mail that medical and police screening processes have already started.

She said government had engaged a recruitment agency to receive applications for the UAE and Kuwait jobs.

“We have received an overwhelming response from Zambians who are interested in working in the two countries. The recruitment agency we have engaged has received about a thousand applications,” she said.

Ms Mwanakatwe said her ministry is working with the Ministries of Labour and Social Security and Foreign Affairs to ensure the recruitment process is accelerated.

She said once the screening process is completed, those selected will be advised on the dos and don'ts while working in the two countries.

She said: “The citizens will be sent in batches until we meet the required number of those that we are sending. We will have people working as cleaners, drivers, while others will work in hotels.”

Ms Mwanakatwe said government will keep constant contact with those who will be selected through the Zambian embassy in those countries.

However, other citizens took to social media questioning the offer given the poor labour records in the two countries.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has deployed soldiers to assist in recovery operations in neighboring Mozambique, which has been badly hit by Cyclone Idai, News24 reports. , external

The cyclone has killed at least 150 people across southern Africa.

Mozambique's port city of Beira has borne the brunt of the cyclone - the Red Cross said that the impact on it was "massive and horrifying".

The storm has also affected electricity supplies to South Africa after it damaged a transmission line in Mozambique, cutting supplies by 900 MW and worsening an already strained electricity supply in the country, news site Fin24 reported. , external

Mr Ramaphosa said that the power supply would be restored within days because the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was helping the country's electricity provider Eskom with the pylons.

"But I am certain that we are going to be able to turn it around within the next two days because our defence force is already there helping with rescue operations, but we've already asked them to go and see how we can get the pylons to also be restored," he said.

Faith Sudi
BBC Swahili, Turkana

When I met Nancy Alimlim in the Kenyan village of Kakwanyan'g in central Turkana on Saturday, she was in tears and the pain on her face was visible.

She said she had just buried her brother - one of 10 people who have died of hunger in drought-hit Turkana in the last two weeks, according to local government officials.

At a well outside the village, women and children had queued in the scorching heat to draw water. Carcasses of goats and sheep lay nearby.

Anna Emaret said she had lost 20 of her animals.

"All my sheep and goats have died. If the government does not help us, we will die just like our animals," she said.

Villagers said they had not had a proper meal for days, and were forced to eat a wild fruit, known locally as mkoma.

They included Moru Lomutan, a mother of six, who was trying to break the hard shell of the fruit when I visited her at her home.

"I have no energy in my mouth to bite it," she said.

Then there was 85-year-old Mariam Loolio, who said: "As you see, I am old and blind. I have no means to go and look for food. I am waiting for the government to help me so that I don't die."

The government says it has started distributing food to about 800,000 people threatened by starvation in Turkana, but will it come quick enough to save the lives of the villagers?

Turkana youth leader Paul Jaling'a said drought was a recurring problem in the region because of a lack of rains, but the government had failed to come up with a solution.

Pointing out that a dam had been built across the border in Uganda by President Yoweri Museveni's government, he said: "Why doesn't the local and national government come together to find a long-term solution, like Museveni did?"

Kenya's Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa said the government was planning to build dams to increase the storage of water, and to help irrigate farms.

If you know Swahili, you can read a longer version of my article here.

The spokesman for the agency that operates the railway service in South Africa has said that Monday's four-hour delay to a train carrying President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Gauteng province, was caused by another train that had stopped after its driver was hit by a brick.

Watch his comments:

Mr Ramaphosa and other passengers were stuck on the train for four hours on a journey that should have taken 45 minutes.

He had been on a campaign tour ahead of the 8 May election.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has tweeted that the president has finally reached his destination.

Cyclone Idai has had a "massive and horrifying" impact on Mozambique's port city of Beira, the Red Cross says.

It made landfall on Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), but aid teams only reached Beira on Sunday.

People have been rescued from trees, homes have been destroyed and roofs were ripped off concrete buildings, head of the Red Cross assessment team, Jamie LeSeur, told the BBC.

The cyclone has killed more than 100 people across southern Africa.

More than 60 people have died in the east of Zimbabwe, including two boarding school pupils after their dormitory was hit when rocks swept down a mountain.

The death toll in Beira, with a population of 500,000, is not yet clear, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society's Mr LeSeur said.

Read the full story on the BBC website

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is among train passengers who are stuck on train that has reportedly stopped for hours with no reason given for the delay.

Journalist who are accompanying Mr Ramaphosa - who is campaigning in the northern province of Guateng for the 8 May election - have been sharing updates.

Some frustrated passengers have climbed out of the train to look for alternative means of transport, while traders operating near where the train stopped have been selling their wares to passengers.

An eight-year-old who left his home in northern Nigeria in 2017 because of attacks by militant Islamists has become a chess champion in the US.

Tanitoluwa Adewumi lives in a shelter in the US with his mother Oluwatoyin, father Kayode and older brother, and when he showed an interest in chess his mother got him to join a local club.

He has been playing for just over a year, but hours of practice and hard work have paid off - he has just won top prize in his age category at the New York State Chess Championship.

Tanitoluwa and his family spoke to BBC Newsday's Alan Kasujja about his win.

Image source, AFP

Iran has has recalled its ambassador to Kenya to protest against the Kenyan Supreme Court's refusal to free two Iranian nationals imprisoned for terrorism.

The foreign ministry also summoned Kenya's ambassador to Tehran to express its "dissatisfaction" with the "unfair" ruling, a spokesman said.

The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a ruling of a lower court to free Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi, who are serving a 15-year sentence after being convicted of terrorism-related charges.

The two were arrested in 2012 and charged with possessing 15kg (33 pounds) of the powerful explosive RDX.

They denied being part of a network planning bombings in the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa.

BBC World Service

Reports from the Democratic Republic of Congo say a train has overturned, killing at least 24 people, mostly children. More than 30 others have been injured.

The accident, in Kasai province, involved a freight train carrying stowaways.

Police said several wagons fell into a river and have yet to be searched so the number of victims could rise.

It's the third rail accident in the area in recent weeks.

Correspondents say many trains in Congo date back to the 1960s and track hasn't been properly maintained.

Monday's African proverb:

Image source, AFP

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